Washboard



w. E. 'ABBOTT.

. WASHBOARD.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 21,1919- RENEWED JAN- 27,1922.

1,427, 048; lPatentedAug.22, 1922. r

WNW/E8858 L I l/VVE/IITOH f ATTORNEYS UNHII. stars rarer oer;

WILLIAM EDGAR ABBOTT, or Bruin, OREGON, nssrenoleg BY DIRECT AND MnsNn ASSIGNMENTS, 'ro ABBOTT INCORPORATED, or BEND, oaneon, A CORPORATION OF OREGON.

- WASI-IBOARD.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Aug. 22, 31%22.

Application filed July 21, 1919, Serial No. 312,219 Renewed January 27, 1922. Serial No. 532,256.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

- Be it known that 1, WILLIAM EDGAR Anson, a citizen of the United States, and a residentof Bend, in the county of Deschutes and State of Oregon, have invented a new and Improved VVashboard, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact descrip tion.

This invention relates to laundry appliances and has particular reference to washboards.

Among the objects of the invention is to so improve a washboard as to facilitate the grasping of a cake or bar of soap supported thereon. It is well known that a bar of soap supported upon a ledge or shelf of a washboard is particularly diiiicult to grasp and lift from its support because the soap due to the wet condition of the is slippery hand. This difliculty in the liftlaundresss ing of the bar of soap is increased in proportion to the thinness of the bar.

Among the objects of the invention, therefore, is to provide a support for the bar of soap which constitutes in effect alifter or ejector therefor and so designed as to cause the delivery of the bar of soap directly into the laundresss hand, the manipulation of the device requiring no elfort, skill, or loss of time on the part of the operator.

With the foregoing and other objects in view the invention consists in the arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed, and while the invention is not restricted to the exact details of construction disclosed or suggested herein, still for the purpose of illustrating a practical embodiment thereof reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in which like referencecharacters designate the same parts in the several views, and in which Figure l is aperspective View of the upper end of a washboard showing my im' provement.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the same and indicating the manner of manipulation of the ejector.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional View of the adaptation of my improvement to a double faced or reversible washboard.

Fig. e is a transverse section on the line sirl of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the ejector detached from the frame.

In the practice of this invention it is not my purpose to depart materially from'any well known or establishedhdes'ign or construction of washboards with respect. to the rubbing surface 10, side bars 11 and head upper edge of the rubbing surface 10, and

secondly as a support for the bar of soap in connection with another member such as a backboard 14 fitted between the side bars ll and extending downward from the. head piece to any desired distance with respect above it will be understood that in the practice of the washboard' the bar of. soap is supported temporarily against the backboard 14 and the upper surface of the ledge to the ledge bar. From-what has been stated bar 13 when not held in the laundresss hand. This location for the soap is convenient for the reason that it is Wl'tlliIl easy reach of the operator. From the nature of the commodity, however, the bar of soap is disposed to adhere to the surface of the board 14 making it diflicult to lift it therefrom, especially when the bar has become worn and thin from, use. To obviate this difiiculty, I employ a movable member 15 constituting an ejector or lifter for the bar of soap whereby. the operator may easily reach sufliciently far around the bar to remove it forcibly from the holder if it is inclined to stick. As shown this lifter or ejector comprises a substantially rectangular panel pivoted at 16 on a horizontal axis between the head piece 12 and the ledge bar 13, the axis of the pivots being far enough above the backboard, as shown in big. 2, to permit the free tiltin of the ejector within predetermined limits within the. space between the head piece and the ledge bar. In other words in its action the ejector is in the nature of a lever 0f the first class upon the lower portion or end I of which the bar of soap is normally supported as shown in Fig. 1, andtin dotted linesfin Fig.2; In this position the action of the ejector is indentical with the back-.

board of an ordinary washboard. i

The portion of the ejector'beloiv the axis may be heavier than the upper portion and for simplicity of construction this result is obtained by placing the axis slightly above thecenter of the member 15, so that the ejector board normally lies or tends under the weight of the soap to lie in a position to receive the bar of soap so as to be protected or guarded by the ledge bar from sliding down the washboard, it being re- I membered that when thebar of" soap is placed upon the support in wetdripping I condition it does'not possess the tendency the ejector to swing upward'thereby deliverto adhere to the support that it does after it has drained and become partially dried. Said axis, however, is located but slightly'if any above the center of the panel 15. To

grasp the bar of soap in my improvement the operator simply presses downward with her thumb upon that portion ofthe ejector above the axis causing the lower portion of mg the bar of soap directly into her hand. In other words during this pressure of the thumb against the upper portion of the ejector above the horizontal axis thereof the fingers of the same hand naturally drop beneath "the lower edge of the ejector and around the bar of soap in position to receive the bar when the thumb is brought down grasping the npper'edge of the bar of soap. With this positive grasp of the bar the soap may be either'lifted directly from the support or moved downward-therefrom.

The ejector panel 15may be made ofanv suitable cheap but durable material such as wood and when so made pivots maybe provided by stamping or pressing outward upon sheets of metal which as shown in the detail views may be formed to provide edge reinforcements 17 for the end portions of the panel. These strips'of metal bent .or otherwise formed into channels serve notonl-y asremforoements and stifi'eners for the'ends of the panels 15 and. as carriers for the pivots 16, but also constitute drainage features or gutters down and along which the suds may'flow instead of going over the ends of the tilting member; This feature is particularly applicable in the .is limited in its tilting movements by stops 18 in the nature of strips fastened to the lower .or inner surface of the. head piece.

12'. The actionof the ejector 15' in its co-operation" with the ledge bar 13 is exactly the same as has already been described. Obviously the board as shown in Fig. 3 is reversible so as to bring the other rubbing face 10 or lOinto service, and whichever face of the {board ls-upward the' lower heavier end of the pane d-15 will always project downward so as to receive the bar of soap above it just 'asis shown inFig- 1.

The delivery or ejection of the soap from the support iseffected in this form'of the I scribed. The channel members 17 in this form of the invention are relied upon to directthe'suds downward so that there will be no drip on the outside of-the tub, it bebers is provided with a flange 17 'adjacent to the bar 11 over which the water orsuds cannot flow. It will be noticed that the edges of the reinforcement arebent to invention in the same manner as has been-de- 5 ing noted that each of these channel mem form channels receiving the ends of the panel and the edge of this 'reinforcement"l7 is returned to form a'gutter, as best shown at 17 in'Figure 4-, to form the drainage gutter hereinbefore' referred to.

Iclaimz 7 1. A wash board having a tilting panel, means co-operating with'the tilting panel to form asoap box, and means 'to'pivot the panel for swinging movementaround a horizontal axis, said pivot means comprising sheet metal reinforcingstrips for the-ends of the "panel serving to hold'the' same from warping or deterioration, said strips being jecting laterally therefrom.

2. A washbo'ard having a tiltingpanel co -operating in forming a soapbox and reinforcing strips embracing the endsof the panel and havingret'u'rn portions forming drainage gutters and-pivoting means for the panel; as and for the purposes set forth.

" WMQEDGAR ABBOTT.

formed 'with integral pivot members'pro- 

